My Isenberg School of Management PhD Student Dana Hassani Receives the Outstanding Doctoral Student Research Award

As the 2023-2024 academic year was growing to a close, there were many celebratory events including my department's award ceremony that  I had blogged about.

And, at the final All School Meeting of the Isenberg School on May 9, 2024, there were faculty and PhD students recognized for research and teaching as well as staff for their accomplishments.

I was thrilled to hear that my Isenberg School PhD student, Dana Hassani, who has completed almost two and a half years in our doctoral program in Operations Management, was the sole recipient of the 2024 Isenberg School Outstanding Doctoral Research Award! I had nominated Dana for this award.

Below is a collage of photos taken after the announcement and prior to the Senior Barbecue that followed.

Dana has already had two journal articles published, one in the European Journal of Operational Research, and the other one in the Journal of Global Optimization.

Both of these papers, Dana co-authored with me and with colleagues at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine, Professor Oleg Nivievskyi and Dr. Pavlo Martyshev. Preprints of these and other papers of ours can be found on the Supernetwork Center website: https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/dart.html These papers are reflective of a wonderful collaboration began through the UMass Amherst - KSE partnership, which was established after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022. Pavlo was one of 15 Virtual Scholars in our first round and was placed with me as a Faculty Host.

In addition, we, recently, heard that another joint paper of ours, "Quantification of International Trade Network Performance Under Disruptions to Supply, Transportation, and Demand Capacity, and Exchange Rates in Disasters," has been accepted for publication in: Dynamics of Disasters- From Natural Phenomena to Human Activity, I.S. Kotsireas, A. Nagurney, P.M. Pardalos, S. Pickl, C. Vogiatzis, Editors, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The achievement of Dana's receipt of this award is quite impressive since there are 7 departments in the Isenberg School of Management.

The research on international agricultural trade network equilibrium problems continues, with various policy interventions, analysis of disruptions due to the war, as well as impacts on food security. 

Our KSE colleagues inspire us as do all Ukrainians fighting for their freedom and that of democracies globally.

Congratulations to the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter and to its Officers!

The end of the academic year is filled with all sorts of celebratory events as well as award ceremonies. 

The academic life is intense but extremely rewarding.

I have served as the Faculty Advisor of the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter since its founding in 2004 and next Fall we hope to mark its big 20th Anniversary! This Chapter is an outstanding collaboration between the Isenberg School of Management and the College of Engineering.

This past Thursday evening, after the classes were over with at UMass Amherst, we hosted the end of the semester party at the Isenberg School of Management.

The students did a great job, under the leadership of this year's Chapter President, my PhD student, Dana Hassani, in organizing the event, which included ordering food from award-winning UMass Dining and Catering.

Professor Ladimer S. Nagurney and I brought several types of varenyky / pierogies (warm and buttered) and Polish sausages plus delicious Italian and Polish cookies.

Attendance of faculty and students was outstanding at this party, which demonstrates the warm and inclusive community that we have built at UMass Amherst of operations researchers!

At this party, we recognized both this year's and last year's incredible Chapter Officers with Outstanding Award Certificates that were framed. The Chapter has accomplished so much in terms of hosting speakers, leaders, and even panels plus their role in building community through social events, such as this party, are so very much appreciated.

Congratulations to the Chapter Officers, who received their Outstanding Service Awards and were able to attend: Dana Hassani, Ogechi Vivian Nwadiaru, Samirasadat Samadi, Paola Furlanetto, Sindhoora Prakash, Yukti Kathuria, G. Busra Karkili, and Ismael Pour. Yiwen Wang, Josh Gladstone, and Semih Boz were also recognized for their great service to this INFORMS Student Chapter. 

Service as a Chapter Officer builds many skills, including leadership. And, for those students (many of the members are PhD students) who enter academia after receiving their doctorates, service activities are important, along with excelling at research and teaching. Universities run on those three "pillars."

Thanks to all the faculty: Professors Arzum Akkas, Bogdan Prokopovych, Ahmed Ghoniem, Agha Iqbal Ali, Erin Baker, Hari Balasubramanian, and Chaitra Gopalappa that were able to join us for the party. Thanks also to Professors Senay Solak, Peter Haas, and Ana Muriel for their terrific engagement with our students and chapter activities!  It was extra special that two of the exchange students from the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine: Asta Motrenko and Marharyta Nechytailo came and enjoyed the varenyky and the warm conversations very much. You can read here about a panel that they spoke at which was organized by this Chapter with support also provided by the International Programs Office.

I am very grateful to Dean Anne P. Massey and to Vice Provost Kalpen Trivedi for their superb support of our students.

On the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter website you can find information about the chapter as well as news items and many photos.

Lovely Operations & Information Management Awards Celebration 2024

On May 2, 2024, in the Inn at Boltwood in downtown Amherst, my department held an Awards Celebration to recognize student achievements.

It was a lovely evening with delicious food, great company, and ceremony recognizing each student awardee. The full list from the program is below.

The two students that I had nominated, Khang Banh, who is from Vietnam, and is an undergraduate graduating this month, and Dana Hassani, who is my PhD student, concentrating in Operations Management,  received the OIM Exceptional Impact Scholarship. Khang Banh, in addition, is one of only ten recipients of the Outstanding Student Employee Award this year from UMass Amherst! Dana is the President of the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter and has already published two journal articles, co-authored with me and colleagues in Ukraine at the Kyiv School of Economics, Professor Oleg Nivievskyi and Dr. Pavlo Martyshev.

It was delightful to meet family members, who came, as well as friends of the students.

The Chair of the OIM Department, Professor Senay Solak, and Dr. Michele Burch, the Co-Chair of the OIM Department, did a superb job reading bios of the students and assisting with giving out the awards.

Many thanks to my OIM colleague, Dr. Oscar Lopez, for taking the below group photos. Along with Professor Ladimer S. Nagurney, I had to leave a bit early for another event. It is a very busy time of the academic year with many celebrations taking place.

Special thanks to Dr. Shirley Shmerling and Susan Boyer and Dr. Ying Liu for the great work on selecting the awardees and on organizing the event with a special shoutout to our outstanding Office Manager Samantha Whittle for designing and producing the elegant program, the name cards, and making sure that the event was so memorable!

And, most importantly, congratulations to all the student awardees! Your work ethic and creativity and dedication and academic success inspire us. The awardees hail from multiple countries and one even from the town of Amherst.

Terrific Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) 2024 Conference in Minneapolis

I'd like to thank the organizers of the 2024 POMS Conference, which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 25-29. Full information on the program and associated activities can be found on the conference website: https://pomsmeetings.org/conf-2024/

Both my Isenberg School of Management PhD student, Dana Hassani, and I presented at this conference and Dana also took part on the Doctoral Colloquium as did another Operations Management Isenberg School PhD student, Busra Karkili. Dana shared with me the lovely group photo below taken at the colloquium.

Coincidentally, on our flight from Bradley Airport to Minneapolis, were both Busra and her PhD Advisor, Senay Solak, who is also chair of our OIM Department.

I presented my latest work on food security, international trade, and nutritional subsidies by governments, whereas Dana presented one of our papers on the quantification of international trade network performance under disruptions to supply, transportation, and demand capacity, and exchange rates in disasters, done with colleagues, Oleg Nivievskyi and Pavel Martyshev at the Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine. The below collage was prepared as a memento from this great POMS conference.

My presentation was based on a paper that was recently published in the International Transactions in Operational Research and was recognized with an Editor's Choice Award.  Special thanks to Telesilla Kotsi for organizing a very interesting session and inviting me to speak

It was extra special, because of the serendipity at conferences, to see Tinglong Dai and Suresh Sethi plus Kathy Stecke and even Zihao Qu, who will be joining our Operations and Information Management Department, Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst.

It was delightful to see several of our Isenberg UMass PhD alums there, including recently promoted and tenured Michelle Li, and Heng Chen, and Sara Saberi also took part. My colleague, Ahmed Ghoniem, also was at the conference. It was lovely to meet many other conferees and to reconnect with others through such warm, fascinating conversations, including a great conversation with Andres F. Jola-Sanchez! As promised, I have posted our presentations on the Virtual Center for Supernetworks site: https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/visuals.html

Thanks also to Springer Nature Group Editor Matthew Amboy for displaying my Labor and Supply Chain Networks book at the Springer booth at the conference!

With best wishes to everyone as the end of the academic year comes to a close and with many summer conferences on the horizon!

It Was Great to Be Back at MIT to Speak on Agricultural Supply Chain Networks and Trade Policies

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of speaking at MIT at the Center for Transportation and Logistics in its seminar series. I'd like to thank Austin Iglesias Saragih for the invitation to speak. The title of my presentation was: Agricultural Supply Chain Networks: Trade, Policies, and Resilience.

In my seminar, I first highlighted research that we had done on food supply chains over the past decade with collaborators: Min Yu, Deniz Besik, and Pritha Dutta (all of whom were my former PhD students, and now are thriving as Professors), and, more recently, with my present PhD student Dana Hassani and collaborators at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) Professor Oleg Nivievskyi and Dr. Pavlo Martyshev. 

In my presentation, I did a deep dive into the paper, "Exchange Rates and Multicommodity International Trade: Insights from Spatial Price Equilibrium Modeling with Policy Instruments via Variational Inequalities," Anna Nagurney, Dana Hassani, Oleg Nivievskyi, and Pavlo Martyshev, Journal of Global Optimization 87: (2023), pp 1-30.

The paper was the lead article in the volume and was also displayed at the INFORMS Phoenix conference. In the below photo I am standing next to the journal Editor, Professor Sergiy Butenko, and my PhD student Dana Hassani. The Springer editors Razia Amzad and Christian Rauscher are next to Dana.

I also discussed some results from my Labor and Supply Chain Networks book.

I am very grateful to the audience for the excellent questions and discussions and to Austin for handling the logistics of my visit. 

It was also extra special to have one of my former students, Emilio Alvarez Flores, who is now pursuing an MBA at Sloan at MIT, come to my presentation. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Dr. Elenna Dugundji, who is a Research Scientist at the Center for Transportation ad Logistics at MIT.

My talk was also streamed on Zoom (which I had not been informed of). It was great to see MIT faculty Zooming in and others from different locations, including Georgia Tech.

It was terrific to be back at MIT. Coincidentally, the Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL) is located at 1 Amherst Street in Cambridge so I felt right at home. I had spent 2 years at MIT and recall when the OR Center was also located there.

In my presentation, I discussed the importance of alternative routes and appropriate policies for agricultural trade with a focus on the impacts of Russia's war on Ukraine and, that night, as we all know, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after being hit by the cargo ship Dali. I had multiple requests for media interviews but had to decline because of my presentation and meetings at MIT. Lo and behold, whom did I see on the TV news, a few hours afterwards - none other than the Director of CTL, Professor Yossi Sheffi! He had hugged me when he saw me at MIT, something his PhD students told me they have never seen him do before. Professor Sheffi was also my host when I had an NSF Visiting Professorship for Women at MIT and I spent my first year at CTL, which was then located in Building 1.

The slide deck of my seminar presentation is posted on the Supernetwork Center website.

I had previously given a seminar at MIT in December 2015 and was hosted by Professor Carolina Osorio, who is no longer at MIT. She and Professor Jim Orlin joined us for dinner after my talk and Professor Orlin even Zoomed into my presentation this past Tuesday. My blogpost with photos from that visit can be accessed here.

That evening, I stopped by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (RIAS) at Harvard University, where I has been a Science Fellow in 2005-2006. The Fellows that year included Professor Claudia Goldin, who in 2023 received the Nobel Prize in Economics. I had been back to RIAS as a Summer Fellow twice since then.

And to celebrate being back in Cambridge, we enjoyed a delicious Amareno gelato topped by a chocolate macaron.

Reflection on the 2nd Anniversary of Russia's Full Scale Invasion of Ukraine

Hard to believe that it has been two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation in Europe, on February 24, 2022.

Ukraine and Ukrainians in Russia's illegal, unprovoked war have endured an immense toll in terms of suffering, lives lost, injuries sustained, families separated, plus damages to critical infrastructure, homes, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, cultural institutions, agricultural facilities and land, as well as to nature and the environment. The Ukrainian economy has suffered immensely, exacerbating global food insecurity since Ukraine is known as a breadbasket with its rich chernozem (black soil) and is a big producer of wheat, corn, and sunflower seeds.

Ukrainians everywhere have been affected by this horrific war, which  has also resulted in millions of displaced people. All those on our planet who value freedom, safety, civility, and, of course, democracy continue to be amazed by the courage, tenacity and resilience of Ukrainians and their love for their country.

Incredibly, we are also marking the almost 2 year anniversary of the historic partnership between the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE). In such historic, very challenging times, one does what one can and UMass Amherst has been visionary in establishing this partnership, so soon after the full-scale invasion. It endures and is flourishing.

In the past year, 15 Virtual Scholars in Ukraine, through this partnership, have worked with Faculty Hosts at UMass Amherst (9 of them based in the Isenberg School of Management). Our collaborations across the miles have synergized research, have built friendships, and have resulted in significant research publications plus conference presentations. 

Just last week, we hosted the second visit of the President of KSE, Dr. Tymofiy Mylovanov, who gave an outstanding presentation on leading his university in wartime. And last spring, we organized a symposium featuring the Virtual Scholars and their Faculty Hosts with the Rector of KSE, Dr. Tymofii Brik, also in attendance. Plus, he delivered a seminar.

What has been truly remarkable this year, is that 4 exchange students from KSE joined us at UMass Amherst. It has been a delight to get to know them and I am deeply grateful to Isenberg School Dean Anne P. Massey for even hosting a lunch in their honor.

And the exchange students spoke on a panel at the Isenberg School about their experiences.

Listen to their interview and be inspired.

Thanks to all who have been instrumental in the success of our partnership from the top administrators to Faculty Hosts and also to the students of the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter, who have provided their energy and thoughtfulness in helping us to organize many events. 

Last year, I wrote a reflection on the 1 year anniversary.

There has been media coverage of many of our activities and events and we are grateful for the coverage and for getting the messages out. For some examples, please see various postings on the Supernetwork Center website.

A collection of relevant videos can be accessed here.

Some of our research publications with Ukrainian colleagues can be found here.

It has been extremely meaningful for me to have served as a Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of KSE for almost 2 years now as well as being a member of its Board of Directors and International Academic Board with truly amazing colleagues for over half a decade now.

Sustaining institutions of higher education in Ukraine is of the utmost importance and I am so proud of the work that UMass Amherst is doing in this regard. Special thanks go out to my amazing Dean Anne P. Massey and to the Director of our International Programs Office and Vice Provost for Global Affairs Dr. Kalpen Trivedi for their terrific leadership as well as to the support provide by Provost Dr. Mike Malone.

It is high time that all democratic nations give Ukraine everything that it needs in order for it to be able to defeat the evil invaders and occupiers. The future of our planet and our way of life depend on it.

Higher Ed Leadership In Ukraine in Wartime - KSE President Tymofiy Mylovanov

This past Monday, we had the honor and pleasure of hosting Dr. Tymofiy Mylovanov, the President of the Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This was his second visit to UMass Amherst - his first was on February 22, 2023. 

His visit was very timely, as was his lecture,  since we are approaching the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Mylovanov had sent me a message just a few days before his arrival saying that he would like to visit and speak and, despite multiple logistical hurdles and scheduling issues, we made it work.

Leading a university is extremely challenging and leading one in wartime, with success, is extraordinary.

I have had the great honor of serving as a Co-Chair of the KSE of Board of Directors, having been elected shortly after the full-scale invasion. But my relationship with KSE has been over half a decade, since I also serve on its International Academic Board and its Board of Directors. Also, back in March 2022, UMass Amherst and KSE established a partnership, which has further synergized our connections, and is now supporting both exchange students from KSE as well as Virtual Scholars in Ukraine (we will be starting the second round soon) to reduce brain drain.

The leadership exhibited by KSE President Mylovanov is one characterized by: immense care for the safety of his students, faculty and staff; agility in creating new degree programs at KSE; talent in connecting with thought leaders and disseminating the needs and accomplishments of KSE to donors, stakeholders, and the world at large; expanding KSE to include a business school, and supporting the outstanding KSE Institute, which produces many white papers and studies of relevance in wartime that are regularly cited by international media,  plus growing the KSE Charitable Foundation to assist in the financing of humanitarian endeavors in Ukraine. Such important activities require steadfastness, great intelligence, resilience, and ability to get data and information quickly. It also requires innovation and associated thinking under immense pressures and even danger.

What also truly inspires me is his understanding of the importance of not only face to face education but also visiting supporters and donors and advocating for KSE and Ukraine in person.

Below is a photo of Dr. Mylovanov presenting at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst this past Monday.

UMass Amherst issued this nice press release announcing his talk. The UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter, in turn, prepared this nice poster, and the students, along with the International Programs Office at UMass and the Isenberg School helped with the logistics.

During his visit, Dr. Mylovanov met with top university administrators, faculty, and students, and also had a chance to chat with guests. At the meeting with the Provost, the VCRE, and the Director of our International Programs Office, Dr. Mylovanov made a statement that I found vey moving and, also, informative. He said that we all will die, so we need to identify what will be our legacy. His, he believes, is building up the Kyiv School of Economics and that is "his mile." He also, when asked, responded to the challenges of being a public persona. He is, above his educational leadership role, also a frequent guest on CNN, BBC and other media and news platforms. He said that he plays a public role because he believes that there are positives and, I believe, his sharing of information and commentary is beneficial not only to KSE but also to those interested in Ukraine around the globe.

I was thrilled to have him emphasize the importance of the partnership between UMass Amherst and KSE and its highly original model of supporting both students, as through the exchange program, and also research since Virtual Scholars in Ukraine are partnered with Faculty Hosts at UMass Amherst. Last year, for example, there were 9 Virtual Scholars in Ukraine working with faculty at the Isenberg School, and 15 Scholars total placed with UMass faculty. We have organized  joint symposia, and have published terrific journal articles and have also had multiple conference presentations based on the collaborations across the miles. The friendships that have been made support the researchers in Ukraine and are enriching to those of us who have the honor of working with them. Some additional information on the partnership can be found here.

Below is a photo of KSE President Mylovanov with two of our KSE exchange students after the lunch on Monday.

The attendance at his presentation at the Isenberg School was excellent, despite a short notice, and also a last minute room change.

The UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter conducted an interview with Dr. Mylovanov and a gift was presented to him. We will let you know when the interview is posted on the Chapter's youtube channel.

It was wonderful to have discussions with him over lunch and dinner and I am very grateful to all the administrators who made time in their very busy schedules to meet with us.

We have now posted a video recording of Dr. Mylovanov's presentation and it, along with his slide deck, can be found and viewed by clicking here.

There will be additional media coverage, but many thanks to Daniella Pikman for her article on Dr. Mylovanov's presentation published already in the Daily Collegian.

Below is a collage of photos capturing the highlights of Mylovanov's visit. Thanks to all who took part. And, with a pending snowstorm, we managed to find him a hotel next to Bradley Airport and he caught a 6AM flight to DC on Tuesday morning (his 10AM flight had been cancelled) and made his meetings there in time. Quite a few neighboring universities were closed on Tuesday but not UMass Amherst.

Thanks to KSE President Tymofiy Mylovanov for the extraordinary leadership of KSE in Ukraine! Information on KSE is here.